Saturday 20 June 1668

Up, and talked with my wife all in good humour, and so to the office, where all the morning, and then home to dinner, and so she and I alone to the King’s house, and there I saw this new play my wife saw yesterday, and do not like it, it being very smutty, and nothing so good as “The Maiden Queen,” or “The Indian Emperour,” of his making, that I was troubled at it; and my wife tells me wholly (which he confesses a little in the epilogue) taken out of the “Illustre Bassa.” So she to Unthanke’s and I to Mr. Povy, and there settled some business; and here talked of things, and he thinks there will be great revolutions, and that Creed will be a great man, though a rogue, he being a man of the old strain, which will now be up again. So I took coach, and set Povy down at Charing Cross, and took my wife up, and calling at the New Exchange at Smith’s shop, and kissed her pretty hand, and so we home, and there able to do nothing by candlelight, my eyes being now constantly so bad that I must take present advice or be blind. So to supper, grieved for my eyes, and to bed.

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Annotations

‘smutty, adj. &lt; smut n. or smut v. Compare German schmutzig. . . 5. Indecent, immodest, impure, obscene.1668 S. Pepys Diary 20 June (1976) IX. 247, I saw this new play my wife saw yesterday; and do not like it, it being very smutty. . . 1768–74 A. Tucker Light of Nature (1834) II. 124 He‥puts the women to the blush with his smutty jokes and rude jeers. . . 1894 Tablet 16 June 920 It is only when the details are sensational or smutty that room is found for them in the columns of the great dailies.’ [OED]

Not sure how that happened djc and Peter! I don't have time to investigate it properly right now, so I've removed the day of the week from the next/previous links for the time being, seeing as the rest of it is correct. (The site is slowly rebuilding as I type; should be finished soon.)

Povy seems to believe the current discontent will put the old Cromwellians back in power, at least perhaps their remnants in Parliament, and Creed is clever enough to turncoat again when their time comes.